


Caught in Your Strings

by UWU_Nation



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crack, Donghyuck is both a confident gay and a panicked gay, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, High School, Jeno is a crackhead, Kissing, M/M, Mark works at a bookstore, both donghyuck and mark are idiots, but they are cute idiots, halloween party, markhyuck, nomin, slight angst, stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-13 11:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14748428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UWU_Nation/pseuds/UWU_Nation
Summary: “You’re like Spiderman”“What?”“You have spidey reflexes”“Oh, hahaha do you like Spiderman?” the other asked excitedly“No, not really.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so I'm sorry if it sucks! please leave a comment if you liked it so I can continue posting hehe.

     When Donghyuck heard his alarm go off he was still thinking about his dream, he dreamt that he was falling through the sky but he was tied with a rope and he didn’t know who was holding it. He got out of bed frustrated not knowing why it affected him so much, he decided to go change for his first day of being a Junior in high school. After he showered and put on his school uniform he looked at himself in the mirror, he dyed his hair red during the break and he was worried a little what his friends might think about the extreme color. He spent the entire vacation traveling with his family so he actually got to miss his friends, school however not so much.

     “Lee Donghyuck what is taking you so long? Get down here or else you’re gonna miss the bus!” he heard his mom shout at him, with a sigh he decided he looked presentable and ran downstairs.

     The bus ride was short since he lived pretty close to his school and once he got out of the bus he heard someone yell “OMG you’re a red head!!!” he knew who the voice belonged to and he immediately turned around with a smirk to face him “I know I know I look great” his friend laughed and walked over to him to give him a hug “okay… OKAY I get it Jaemin you miss me now get off” Jaemin just laughed and put his arm around his best friend and walked into the school.

 

     “So I was swimming having the best time ever when I feel something touch my leg and I look down and it’s this-“ he stopped talking when he noticed Jaemin not paying attention to his amazing story from the time he went to the beach with his family “umm earth to Jaemin? Hello? Nana what are you staring at?” he turned to look at what has caught his friends attention and his eyes landed on a guy he’s never seen before “who’s that?” he asked but still Jaemin wasn’t listening to him still too focused on the black haired guy with _crescent_ moon-like eyes and strong bone structure, he hated being ignored so he decided to pinch Jaemin’s nose “OUCH!!” Jaemin turned to him with a pout “What was that for??” “That was for you ignoring me! Now you’ll never know what it was that touched my leg” “ew why would I wanna know that?” “nevermind, who is that?” “ I don’t know I think he’s new, I’ve never seen him before” The bell rang so they both decided to get to their classes and talk during lunch break.

     Donghyuck’s first class was science, his most hated subject, he walked into the classroom and took the seat in the back and decided to lay low the entire class but then he heard the teacher say “Good morning everyone, we have a new student joining our class, you can introduce yourself” she said while smiling at someone outside the door and Donghyuck already knew who it was before he walked in, the boy came into the classroom with a shy smile and said “ Hi, I’m Lee Jeno and I approve this message” Donghyuck burst out laughing he couldn’t believe this guy, the teacher looked a bit disappointed and told the new kid to take a seat in the back, he sat next to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck pulled out his phone and sent a message to Jaemin

To: NANA

Omg!!!! New kid is in my class and he introduced himself saying “Hi, I’m Lee Jeno and I approve this message” like wtf?? Hahaha

From: NaNa

WHAT!!!!! This is crackhead behavior omg, but it’s lowkey c*te. How come you’re so lucky?

To:NANA

Did you seriously just censor the word cute??? AND I KNEW YOU LIKED HIM!!!

From: NANA

Shut up! ;)))

     “LEE DONGHYUCK ARE YOU ON YOUR PHONE??” he heard his teacher yell and he flinched, she walked over to his desk and held out her hand to him, “ Honestly miss Kim there’s no need for that I’ll just put it away” “Hand it over Donghyuck or you’re getting sent to the office on your first day back!” he handed her his phone but what she said next made his jaw drop, “How about we read what’s so much more important than this class” he mouthed the word no but was too shocked to actually say it, she read out his messages to the entire class and he immediately looked over at Jeno from behind his hands that were covering half his face, but the new kid had a poker face not giving a reaction at all. Donghyuck felt bad for Jaemin so as soon as the bell rang he took his phone from his teacher while giving her a pointed look and ran to Jaemin’s class so fast he didn’t notice Jeno was tailing him.

     He found Jaemin sketching in his class waiting for the teacher to come and when he lifted his head to meet Donghyuck’s eyes whatever he saw made him super worried, “Hyuck are you ok?” “Jae I’m so sorry she just took it away from me! I didn’t know what she was gonna do I-“ “ woah slow down I don’t understand what’re you saying?” “My science teacher, she read our texts… to the entire class” Donghyuck waited for Jaemin to reply but the boy just stood their looking behind Donghyuck, “ so you’re NANA?” Donghyuck heard someone say from behind him, and he saw Jaemin gulp before saying “yeah, that’s me” “oh, well you’re cute too NANA” Jeno said and then he smiled showing off his eye smile and walked away. “What just happened?” Donghyuck asked, “I’m not sure, but I’m just glad I came out last year or this would’ve been a horrible way to come out!” “I’m sorry Jae” “what’re you sorry for? the new hot kid just told me I’m cute! I love you Lee Donghyuck, I’m gonna start calling you cupid!” “Oh? Heh please don’t” Donghyuck said with a forced smile, Jaemin just pushed him out of his class with the biggest smile plastered on his face and pushed him to the direction of his next class.

     Classes resumed after that until it was lunch break and Donghyuck was starving, he was walking to the cafeteria when he heard some girl scream “WATCH OUT!” and before he knew it he was slipping and he closed his eyes preparing for the painful impact but the only pain he felt was from his arm and felt warmth seep into his back, he opened one of his eyes and he saw someone he didn’t recognize looking down at him, he had light brown hair and the smallest nose he’s ever seen, and big brown eyes, he had this goofy confused expression and his lips made an ‘o’ shape, they stayed there for a couple of seconds not moving just staring at each other as if they were trying to memorize their faces until Donghyuck broke the silence “Uhhh thanks for that, now can you help me up?” “Ah yeah, sure and uh no problem” As he was helping Donghyuck up he tripped over his own feet somehow and stumbled a bit. Soon as Donghyuck was standing again he regarded the other guy by giving him a quick scan from head to toe, he was a little taller than he was and was still staring at Donghyuck’s face, Finally Donghyuck said, “You’re like Spiderman” “what?” “You have spidey reflexes” “Oh, hahaha do you like Spiderman?” the other asked excitedly “no, not really” was all Donghyuck said with a smirk plastered on his face before he turned around and walked away quickly to the cafeteria leaving the other boy chuckle with a half smile on his face watching him walk away.


	2. Chapter 2

     Donghyuck found Jaemin and Renjun in their usual table in the cafeteria and sat with them. Donghyuck caught the middle of their argument, he was glad for the distraction because he knew his friends would notice the slight flush in his cheeks.

     Jaemin looked annoyed saying, “Are you seriously doing this, Renjun? I thought you were over your little crush!” “It’s not a crush okay? It’s my duty as the representative of our class to invite him over for a speech!” Jaemin just rolled his eyes and Donghyuck knew exactly who they were talking about so he added, “ Renjun, you know he didn’t do anything when he was selected as representative when he went here right? They only picked him because he was the quietest and he only agreed because they told him he doesn’t have to do the final project at the end of each year.” Renjun just stared at the both of them for a full minute then he said, “I’m inviting him and that’s that.” Donghyuck remembered last year when a transfer student from China, which is also where Renjun is from, came into the school, he was a senior and he was a year behind because of personal reasons, Renjun was the only person he talked to and when he graduated Renjun got so upset that not even Moomin could lift his mood. They moved on after that and Jaemin started telling Renjun about Jeno, but Donghyuck wasn’t listening anymore because he saw those big eyes again staring right at him from across the cafeteria and once he made eye contact the guy looked down at his untouched watermelon pieces. Donghyuck cut off Renjun’s repeated “oh my god”s and asked him who that guy was because Renjun, being class representative knew almost everyone, Renjun turned around and asked sarcastically, “Are you asking me who Mark Lee is?” “Should I know who he is?” Donghyuck asked annoyed, Renjun scoffed and said, “Everyone was talking about him last year when they heard about a Canadian transfer student” “OK what is up with this school and all these transfer students?” Donghyuck said loudly, he regretted his tone and shot a quick look towards _Mark Lee_ but the boy was now eating his watermelon and laughing with a giant who was making weird jerky movement that had their table shaking, he was still staring when Jaemin suddenly elbowed him, “Does Hyuck finally like someone?” Donghyuck snorted but said nothing else, which was strange from someone like him.

     He was done with his first day of school and he didn’t want to wait for the bus so he decided to walk home, on his way he saw Mark Lee entering a book store and so he decided to take a little peek, he knew he was being creepy but frankly he didn’t care, he was curious.

     Inside Mark Lee went to the back and entered a room, Donghyuck waited for a while and was about to leave when he saw Mark reappear but with his school uniform gone and replaced with a vest, he realized that Mark works here after school because the boy went behind the register and exchanged places with the old lady working there.

     Donghyuck stood in the cold for a second contemplating whether he should do what was on his mind or just head back home. “Fuck it.” He said out loud and he entered the book store not looking towards the register at all, he went straight for the comic book section and picked out a Spiderman comic book, he went to the register to check out. Mark was staring at him with wide eyes and his seagull looking eyebrows were raised so high, “Hi” was all he said so Donghyuck looked at him and gave him his brightest smile and he was pretty sure he heard the boy let out a shaky breath so he said, “Hi-” he made a point of looking for the tag on Mark’s vest and then he said “MaAaark” In a drawled out way, Mark just smiled and his smile only got bigger once his eyes landed on what was in Donghyuck’s hands, “Spiderman? I thought you said you don’t like him” He said smirking, Donghyuck returned the smirk and simply said, “ I don’t”, Mark laughed and took the comic from him to check it but he stopped suddenly and asked “What’s your name?” Donghyuck was too invested in the way Mark’s moles connected from the one on his eyelid to the one on his cheek to the two on his neck, he didn’t realize Mark asked him a question so he asked, “Sorry, what?” Mark looked at him suspiciously then said, “You’re weird.” Donghyuck thought it’s funny for Mark to say that because he thought Mark was weird so he said just that, Mark’s hold on the comic book tightened as he wasn’t sure why his stomach started doing a somersault every time he heard Donghyuck laugh, he cleared his throat and asked about Donghyuck’s name again still holding onto the comic book, “Donghyuck, Lee Donghyuck” “Okay, that’ll be 7.750 _Hyuck_ ” he said that with the sweetest smile Donghyuck thought, and Donghyuck suddenly felt flustered over the sudden nickname so he just paid fast and took the comic muttering “Thanks spideyboy” and he bolted, he can’t believe what was happening or more exactly what he was feeling, he was pretty sure he liked this Mark Lee but he doesn’t even know him. How can this boy turn him from a confident gay to a panicked gay in a second? He fast walked back home with the Spiderman comic burning a hole through his heart through his backpack.

 

     The next couple of weeks were busy with school work and him and his friends talking about different things, like how Jeno kept throwing smiles around Jaemin whenever he saw him, and how he once sat across their table just to casually wink at Jaemin whenever their eyes met, which was very creepy according to Donghyuck but Renjun and Jaemin thought it was cute. They also talked about how Renjun asked Sicheng if he can visit their school one day to give an encouraging speech, which Sicheng still hasn’t given an answer to which made Renjun feel frustrated, and about how Donghyuck kept avoiding Mark because he didn’t like the way he was feeling towards the guy, everything was fine until Jeno asked Jaemin out one day out of nowhere.

     Donghyuck was sitting outside on a bench with Jaemin, they had a free period together, Jaemin was sketching the people around them and Donghyuck was spread out over Jaemin with his eyes closed, inviting the sun to paint his honey colored skin a bronze shade when he heard footsteps coming near them and stopping in front of their bench blocking the sun, he sat up ready to fight whoever it was, when he saw it was Jeno with a weird smile on his face.

“Hello” He said looking at Jaemin specifically

“Hello” Jaemin said back his hand still hung over his notebook mid-sketch

     Donghyuck looked at them both, sighed that he was being completely ignored and left them to do whatever it is they were doing just staring at each other, he later found out from Jaemin that Jeno prepared an entire dance routine to ask Jaemin out, which he did without any music at all, and apparently Jaemin said yes, he was happy for Jaemin but that got him thinking of Mark even though he was trying really hard to not think about the boy, so he unconsciously looked towards Mark’s usual table during lunch only to find out that he wasn’t there, and for some reason he thought he should walk up to Mark’s giant friend and ask about him, “ Hi, uhm I’m- well I was wondering if-“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence because he heard a soft voice behind him say, “Hyuck?” Donghyuck regretted his decision immediately, he gulped and turned around to be faced with a completely disheveled looking Mark so Donghyuck took the opportunity to ask him why he looked like, “My car stopped on my way to school so I had to change the tires and I didn’t know how to do that so I looked it up on YouTube and surprisingly it wasn’t as simple as they made it seem.” He said with a shrug, and Donghyuck looked at him like he was completely out of his mind and said, “Of course fucking not! You can’t just learn something like that from YouTube!” Mark’s face then completely changed to a smug look that pissed Donghyuck off and he said, “I actually managed to learn it from a video in less that 3 hours.” Donghyuck was about to tell him how it was still dumb to go to YouTube for help when Mark’s giant friend says all of the sudden “Mark is absolutely fully capable.” he said followed with a weird laugh that sounded high and hoarse at the same time, Donghyuck was saved by the bell ringing so he simply smiled and backed away from their table, he walked four steps before he heard Mark’s voice call out his name again, he turned around to face him and the boy suddenly looked embarrassed he asked, “What were you talking to Lucas about?” So that was the giant’s name Donghyuck realized, “Uhm, Halloween is coming up soon and I was thinking about throwing a Halloween party at my place so..” He trailed off not knowing what he was saying and why he was even saying it, but he noticed the expression on Mark’s face falter a little he just nodded looking disappointed and said bye as he was headed towards his next class, Donghyuck however was late to his class because he stayed there wondering why he had this weird unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

 


	3. Chapter 3

     When Donghyuck went back home he went straight to his room and locked the door, he needed to figure out this whole Halloween party thing so he texted his friends

You: So, Maybe I’m an idiot

NANA: We been knew

Injun: We been knew

You: OK creepy, but seriously I need help unu

NANA: spill

You: Well, I need help throwing a Halloween party ◠ ◡◠

Injun: Why tf?

NANA: Donghyuck, you don’t even like parties

You: Don’t you guys always complain about how we don’t do anything on Halloween except eat junk food and rewatch Stranger Things? Now that I’m doing something new you question my brilliancy?

Injun: Didn’t you come to the gc asking for help and calling yourself an idiot?

You: THAT is not the point rn, will you help?

Injun: sure, I’m good at these things and we still have an entire month to prepare and stuff

You: behvhgr thanks!!! Also where did Jaemin go?

Injun: She’s meditating

You: She’s died

NANA: Sorry guys I was texting ♥ Jeno ♥

You: She’s gay**

“Donghyuck, come downstairs dinner is ready.”

You: Talk to you guys tomorrow at school about this I gtg

      He went downstairs, he was super nervous because he had to ask his mom about having the party at the house, so he tried his best to behave and not do anything that’ll change her mood since she was in a good mood.

     “How was your day at school?” She asked him with a soft smile, “It was good, yeah, really good,” He kept playing with his food too nervous to bring up the party, he was about to speak when she beat him to it, “Listen, honey, I’m gonna be going away for work and I was wondering if you’re going to be alright living alone here, or I can always call someone-“ He cut her off saying, “I’m Seventeen years old, mom I don’t need a babysitter, and yes, I’ll be alright but when are you leaving?” She smiled at him because she thought it was adorable how he thought that she still doesn’t see him as the same little kid who used to run around the house naked, “I’ll be gone mid-October till half of November” He thought about this for a minute, he didn’t wanna lie to his mom but he also didn’t think she’d let him have a party when she wasn’t even in the country, so he thought he’d compromise, “Mom, I was actually going to ask you if when I have Jaemin and Renjun over this Halloween if we can have a small party with like some other friends?” “I didn’t know you had friends other than Jaemin and Renjun!” Donghyuck almost spit his water, “Uhh, I have plenty of friends, I have Jeno who’s new in school and many…others” he finished looking anywhere but at his mom, “Sure, I don’t see why not,” She said with a funny smile, but then her face got serious and she said, “just don’t do anything stupid ok? I know you’re a smart boy Donghyuck and I’m trusting you.”

 

     On his way to school Donghyuck saw Mark walking in the same direction but a few steps ahead, without realizing what he was doing he picked up the pace and the next thing he knew he was walking next to Mark Lee.

     “Good morning, Spidey!” Donghyuck said with his smile bright and big as always, “Morning, Donghyuck” Mark replied, his face unreadable, which was weird since Mark was usually so obvious, “So, about my Halloween party I uh, I was wondering if you could like come?” Mark looked surprised at first at the invitation, but his face changed into an insincere apologetic look and said, “Actually I just left the bookstore and signed up for the shift on Halloween, but have fun.” He said that last part as they neared the school and while Donghyuck was slowly stopping, Mark was walking faster, so Mark just waved halfheartedly and left Donghyuck looking at him wondering what he did wrong.

     Donghyuck was in a bad mood, and since his first class had been math he slept through it, but afterwards he had science and he knew Miss Kim hated him too much to let him sulk in peace. He entered his class and saw Jeno sitting in his usual seat next to Donghyuck’s, but what was weird was the look Jeno gave him as he neared him, and then it got worse, he wiggled his eyebrows at him and said, “So, Halloween party huh?” Donghyuck just looked at him as he sat down on his desk knowing Jaemin must’ve filled him in already and nodded, “Do you have any costume ideas?” Jeno asked him looking very excited, “No, not really” Donghyuck lied, he knew he was dressing up as his favorite singer, Michael Jackson, but he was just tired of this entire mess he created, and he was pissed at Mark for acting the way he did today, he just didn’t understand him, “dude, are you okay?” “I’m fine.” He lied again and he looked straight ahead and decided to actually pay attention in his most hated class to get his mind off things.

     After he was done with his morning classes and it was time to go to the cafeteria for lunch he was met with Jaemin waiting for him outside his classroom, “What’s up?” He said looking concerned, “Nothing is up, why do you look so worried?” “Because Jeno told me you were mad in class today” That only made Donghyuck even more angry, “Are you really gonna be THAT couple even before going on your first date?” “Don’t change the subject, what’s wrong? I can tell something is wrong by just looking at you now, I don’t need Jeno to tell me” “Look, nothing is wrong, I’m just stressed about the Halloween party and my mom won’t be in the country for it and-“Donghyuck stopped walking all of the sudden, “and what?”Jaemin asked stopping with him, but Donghyuck’s eyes were glued on Mark standing next to the cafeteria’s doors, he was laughing with his giant friend, _Lucas,_ and he missed seeing that smile, he especially missed seeing it directed towards him, Jaemin followed Donghyuck’s eyes and said, “Oh…” Donghyuck just ignored him and went straight for the cafeteria doors looking down at his feet, then he heard Jaemin yell from behind him, “Idiot, look up!” But before he could two hands held onto him tightly and shoved him in their direction and he landed straight into someone’s chest and the person holding him got pushed back into the wall, he could feel the persons heart beating just as fast as his, as he pushed himself up a bit by placing both his hands on the wall he was facing, he looked up and god he thought the universe was playing some odd prank on him, “You really need to be more careful, Hyuck.” Mark said in a low voice, with a sly smile on his face. Donhyuck was in shock at first, he was overwhelmed from the smell of watermelons radiating from Mark mixed with the perfume he had on, his eyes also lingered on Mark’s smile, the way it was crooked on one side, and he was also confused to the change of mood Mark had and he was mad at him for disregarding him completely this morning, so he pushed himself away from Mark and said, “Well, you need to realize that not everyone wants to be saved” but what he wanted to say is that he was glad he wasn’t so careful because he ended up in Mark’s arms. He stared at Mark as the smile was wiped off his face, he felt bad and he hated how he was the reason for Mark being sad, so he quickly added, “thanks anyway Spidey.” And as he grabbed Jaemin, who was now standing right behind Donghyuck basically breathing down his neck he caught a glimpse of Mark’s face relaxing a bit as he turned to his friend Lucas. Donghyuck pulled Jaemin and went inside the cafeteria, this time with his eyes looking straight ahead.

 

     “I called Sicheng, he said he’d help” Renjun said as Donghyuck and Jaemin sat at their usual table, Jaemin and Donghyuck exchanged a confused look before Jaemin asked, “Help with what?” Renjun looked annoyed that they didn’t know what he was talking about but he explained anyway, “Donghyuck’s Halloween party, I asked Sicheng if he could help us out, and if he wanted to go too,” Both boys kept staring at Renjun wondering if he’s gonna continue that sentence, “he said yes, to both.” Donghyuck didn’t mind, he needed all the help he could get.

     Jeno joined them later on clinging to Jaemin side like they were joined in the middle, “I declare today to be ‘Appreciate Jaemin Day’” Jeno said, quite loudly Donghyuck thought, Jaemin just laughed and put his arm around Jeno, and Renjun just asked, “Why today?” But he didn’t get an answer because Donghyuck suddenly said, “Can he stop? I’m trying to ignore him but god, he’s like staring so much I’m sure he hasn’t blinked at all, that’s not healthy his eyes will get dry and then he’ll need to wear glasses!” “Are you talking about Mark?” Renjun asked, “yes! Who else” “he already wears glasses” And Donghyuck thought that he’d look absolutely adorable with glasses on, except he said those words out loud without realizing it, and he had all his friends staring at him except for Jeno, he was still staring at Jaemin, “what?” he asked them, “You just said that Mark would look and I quote ‘absolutely adorable’ with glasses” Jaemin said, “you would too” Jeno said to Jaemin and then Jaemin and Jeno started complimenting each other leaving Renjun and Donghyuck looking at them disgustingly, “Anyway, Donghyuck do you perhaps maybe possibly like Mark Lee?” Donghyuck thought about this for a minute, he knew he liked talking to Mark, he especially liked teasing him, and that would also explain why he got mad this morning at Mark’s coldness or why he is suddenly throwing a Halloween party, so he finally said with a pout, “Yes, I think I perhaps maybe possibly like Mark Lee” Renjun beamed at that and he shook Jaemin and Jeno to get their attention, “okay so, ask him out or something!” “I kind of did, to my Halloween party, but he rejected me, quite coldly to be honest” “That’s not what it looked like just now before we got into the cafeteria when he had you all cozied up in his arm” Jaemin said while wiggling his eyebrows and making a kissy face at Donghyuck, “SHUT UP! That happened and you didn’t think to tell me?” Renjun practically screamed at Donghyuck, who looked horrified at the eyes staring at them from all around the cafeteria, “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you guys!” he said, while also slapping both Jaemin’s lips, that were still making kissing noises, and Renjun arm, he also slapped Jeno’s arm for no reason whatsoever, he wanted to check if Renjun’s voice had reached Mark’s table so he spared a glance at that direction to only make eye contact with Mark, who smiled at him and gave him an awkward wave, Donghyuck panicked, so he just stared at Mark with his mouth open looking like a complete psycho, Renjun however, was snapping his fingers in front of his face to get his attention, and Donghyuck suddenly let everything inside him out, “I just don’t get it, at first we were talking right? And it was great, but after I make up an excuse to why I was talking to his giant friend, who I was only talking to ask about Mark, and tell Mark oh I’m throwing a Halloween party he gets mad and ignores me, but just now he smiled at me and he saved me from running straight into the cafeteria’s doors,” he takes a moment to breathe since he said all of that without stopping once, “ I AM TIRED!” he screamed lastly, and threw his head straight on the table with a loud thud, Renjun patted his head as Donghyuck was groaning from the pain and said, “Donghyuck you truly are an idiot” “I’m a beautiful idiot,” Donghyuck said, his head still on the table, “wait why am I an idiot?” He lifted his head to meet Renjun’s eyes, that were glaring at him, “Because when you said that to Mark, you basically told him you’re gonna ask Lucas to go to the party with you, beautiful idiot!” “but Lucas lowkey scares me, he’s like so big and his lau-” “that is not the point now, Mark was mad because he was disappointed” Donghyuck thought about this for a second, “okaaay, but why is he suddenly so nice to me?” “maybe he talked to his friend, or he knew he shouldn’t just assume things” Donghyuck wasn’t buying it but then Jeno suddenly added, “Actually I had P.E with both Mark and Lucas today and I overheard Lucas telling Mark about a small guy coming to him and staring at Mark’s cafeteria chair sadly while trying to talk to him, apparently that small guy is you.” “I am not small! He’s the giant,” Donghyuck stated, “also, okay that kind of makes sense” “it makes perfect sense you’re just an idiot.” Jaemin said, “uhm excuse you, I’m a beautiful idiot.” Donghycuk replied, he felt better instantly after talking to his friends about this, he was really glad he had these crackheads in his life. He was in such a good mood he thought he should go back to the bookstore after school to buy another Spiderman comic book.  


	4. Chapter 4

     Donghyuck goes to the bookstore after school feeling excited. He peeks inside the store, and he finds Mark wearing his adorable work vest arranging some books on a shelf, Donghyuck found himself smiling like an idiot staring at Mark while his head kept inching forward till his forehead was basically glued to the window, his breath fogging up the glass, there was also a customer inside, a girl, she was about his age or a bit older. He was about to stop staring and go inside to talk to Mark when the girl tripped over literally nothing and Mark caught her, Donghyuck just stared, he stared at how her cheeks flushed and at how Mark’s big eyes looked concerned, he stared at how close Mark’s face was to the girl’s face, he hated how he was feeling, he knew he was jealous, but instead of walking away in anger he decided to enter the shop while Mark was still holding onto the girl helping her up on her feet.

      As Mark’s eyes looked up to his own, the shock on his face was obvious, he almost dropped the girl back down but caught her again apologizing his eyes now on her, Donghyuck heard her soft voice tell Mark it’s alright and he heard her thank him for catching her twice while giggling, Donghyuck frowned when he saw the girl hand Mark a piece of paper, it probably had her number on it, and Mark took it from her smiling, Donghyuck went straight into the store stomping his feet and he stared at the variety of comic books hanging on the wall, he saw one that felt relatable to how he was feeling right now so he picked it up and went to the register where Mark should go now to check his item but he was still with the girl and Donghyuck was getting impatient, so he started humming loudly and Mark was behind the register in a second, he glared at Mark as he handed him the comic he picked, Mark looked at it and read out the title, “ ‘the AMAZING SPIDERMAN: NEW WAYS TO DIE’, Nice pick” Donghyuck just looked at him with a scowl and said nonchalantly, “Thanks”

     Mark sighed and said,” hey, about that girl I-” He was interrupted with Donghyuck’s hand slamming hard on the counter saying, “what did she trip from anyway? A ghost? She did it on purpose I saw her do it” Mark was trying to control his face the entire time throughout Donghyuck’s outburst but he was confused about the last part of what Donghyuck was saying, “what do you mean you saw her, she tripped before you came- wait were you staring at me from outside the store?” He was smiling like an idiot now and Donghyuck was pretty sure his face is red from the heat he feels in his cheeks, he just coughed and said, “what makes you think I was staring at you? Maybe I was looking for the old lady that works here” And he realized how weird that sounds and flinched slightly while Mark looked ecstatic, “you’re saying you were looking for 86 year old Ms. Choi?” Donghyuck simply nodded trying not to look perplexed, Mark started smiling at him but it was a different kind of smile, it was making Donghyuck nervous, and he was leaning forward on the counter still holding the comic, “stop smiling at me like that, it’s annoying” Donghyuck said gulping, so Mark started pouting and it killed Donghyuck, “don’t do that either” He breathed more than said, and Mark only pouted more asking, “why not?” Donghyuck wanted to tell him because if he kept doing it he might kiss him but instead he said, “b-because it just... it makes your face look weird, and how is your head so big but your face is so small? Honestly, Spidey, would the spiderman mask even fit your big head” And at that last part Mark put on a hurt expression reaching with both his hands to hold his head making his hair ruffle a little and Donghyuck instinctively reached out his own hand and touched Mark’s hair, Mark eyes widened but he moved one of his hands and put it on top of Donghyuck’s hand, they stared at each other but then Donghyuck realized what he was doing, he remembered Mark holding the girl just moments ago and he retracted his hand and he looked at his non existent watch and said, “Oh, look at the time, I should really head back home” he backed away from the counter but stopped when Mark called out, “Hyuck, wait,” He stood there his back to Mark waiting for what Mark was about to say, he was nervous but also excited until he heard what Mark said, “what about your comic?” His shoulders slouched as he turned around still not moving from where he was standing and smiled but his smile didn’t reach his eyes, “I think I have this vol. already.” And he left. He didn’t know what he was feeling right now, he didn’t know what Mark was doing either, he was going to ask Mark to come to his party again today but he didn’t know if it was a good idea now. What was Mark doing touching his hand like that? Smiling at him like that? But still accepting a girl’s number? While walking back home his face felt wet, but it wasn’t raining.

 

     Donghyuck was tired, he was disappointed, and he was hurt. He went to his room and laid there the entire day, it was the weekend so he assumed that no one would bother him, until his phone started vibrating nonstop. He picked it up eventually to find a million messages from Renjun.

  
Injun: Let’s meet up I’m bored

Injun: Donghyuck, Jaemin is already at my place come on

Injun: HE BROUGHT JENO WITH HIM AND THEY’RE SO IN LOVE IM DISGUSTED HELP ME

Injun: Are you ok? Did something happen?

Injun: OK so I decided that your silence means that you want us all to come over and plan your dumb party ψ(｀∇´)ψ

 

     Donghyuck realized that not answering his text messages sooner was a dumb idea, because he wanted to be alone and now he’s gonna have to deal with his emotions while his friends are there. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea, maybe they could help.

 

     “We’re here!” Renjun screamed from downstairs, Donghyuck groaned on his bed and slowly got up to meet up with them downstairs but he could already hear footsteps coming up the stairs so he dropped himself on the bed again. He heard the door open, “okay, so Jeno and Jaemin are cooking something up downstairs for us all, hopefully they won’t burn your house but Jaemin seemed confident, and now you’re gonna tell me why you’re like this on a Friday night” Donghyuck sat up on his bed and looked at Renjun with his puffy, red eyes and Renjun immediately sat closer to him and hugged him, and they stayed like that for a while until Donghyuck broke the silence, “I don’t know what he wants Renjun, and to be honest I’m scared of how much he affects me,” Renjun nodded for him to continue, “I went to him today, to ask him to this stupid party that I made up because of him, and I saw him accept a girl’s phone number and so I got mad and then he put his hand over mine, well I touched his hair first after calling him a bighead bu-” “wait, what the fuck? You lost me there, so you called him a bighead, touched his hair, and he touched your hand afterwards? Is that what happened?” Donghyuck nodded with a sniffle, “Oh my god you’re both idiots, it’s infuriating!” Renjun shrieked and Donghyuck just simply asked him, “how are we idiots?” Renjun sighed and said, “Because you both obviously like each other but neither one of you is smart enough to realize it!” Donghyuck thought about it for a while, and he had to admit he did think about that possibility, but there were other possibilities, “or he’s just a nice bigheaded idiot who doesn’t realize that I like him” Renjun patted Donghyuck on the head and said, “you keep telling yourself that” They both headed downstairs after hearing Jaemin yell, “food’s ready!”

 

     Food apparently was chips in bowls, fruits cut into small pieces and chocolate bars laid out in alphabetical order for some reason, “You call that ‘cooking up something’ Nana?” Renjun asked Jaemin, “it’s comfort food!” Jaemin replid with a shrug, then Jeno added, “And we were busy booking a movie for all of us tonight” Renjun was about to reply to Jeno when Jaemin pointed behind him and they all turned to find Donghyuck with his eyes closed, holding the bowl of watermelons, pouting while sniffing it, Renjun cut the silence asking, “Donghyuck, what’re you doing?” “He smelled like watermelons!” Donghyuck replied not opening his eyes, so they all shared a look and then Jaemin moved towards Donghyuck took away the bowl of watermelons and slid it to Jeno, who immediately started eating it, and Renjun shot him a look but he just smiled enjoying the watermelons, Jaemin then pulled Donghyuck upstairs with everyone following along and said, “let’s get you ready for the movies you watermelon sniffing weirdo!”

 

     On their way to the movies they were passing the bookstore, and Donghyuck started slowing down and he spared a glance inside, he saw Mark checking some books for a couple, Donghyuck’s eyes were following the couple’s movement to the door and when he looked back towards Mark, he was met with the most beautiful big brown eyes looking right at him, Mark smiled at him raising his hand to wave probably but Donghyuck was embarrassed he got caught so he ignored him and quickly walked back to where his friends were.

 

     Jeno apparently booked a scary movie for them to watch and he seemed very excited, while everyone else was not. The movie theatre was empty at first, but then two boys came inside, both huge, and they sat next to Donghyuck, which he thought was annoying since the entire theatre was empty. Donghyuck turned his head a little to look at these assholes only to be met with the face of Mark’s friend, the giant, Lucas. Lucas smiled at him and said, “Hey, Donghyuck right?” And Donghyuck was confused to how he knew his name so he asked, “How do you know my name?” Lucas just looked around a little but finally he said, “I’m psychic” And he started laughing, Donghyuck was terrified and the movie didn’t even start still.

      Throughout the movie both Renjun and Donghyuck were dying and it wasn’t because of the movie, on Renjun’s side Jeno and Jaemin were clingy and on Donghyuck’s side Lucas and his apparently now confirmed boyfriend were clingy.

 

     After the movie was over they all started discussing how bad it was and how funny instead of scary it was, and Donghyuck realized that Lucas and his boyfriend who he now knew as Jungwoo were pretty cool even though Donghyuck couldn’t catch half the things Jungwoo was saying, so he told them both about his plans on having a Halloween party and they seemed very excited. They said goodbye and to see each other at school, Jungwoo said he’d see them around because he doesn’t go to their school, he goes to college or he goes to porridge, Donghyuck wasn’t sure.

      They all went home, but not after making plans to meet up tomorrow to start planning this Halloween party, it was already October so they didn’t have a lot of time. Before going to bed Donghyuck thought about everything that happened today, he had mixed feelings about it, he liked seeing Mark but he hated how every time he saw him his heart did a somersault inside his chest. He loved talking to Mark but he hated how their conversations didn’t lead to anywhere new, he realized he could only be friends with Mark, maybe that’s all they were destined to be, friends.

 

     The next morning he woke up with his mom sitting on his bed, patting his head and crying, he kept his eyes closed but said, “Mom, are you ok?” She realized he’s awake so she pulled him up to hug him and now he opened his eyes because he was scared something terrible happened but his mom then said, “I don’t wanna leave my baby alone” And he sighed and said, “I’m not a baby and I won’t be alone, my friends are coming over today” That made his mom look a little relaxed but then she said, “what about other days? They won’t stay here the entire time I’m gone” He thought about what he could say to make his mom feel better so he settled with, “I’ll be fine, I’m seventeen years old I can take care of myself, and I’ll call you everyday, also if I ever feel lonely I can always sleep over at Renjun’s” She seemed okay with this idea so she hugged him again, they had breakfast together and she was gone.

     Donghyuck sat at the table thinking about tomorrow’s plans, he was finally gonna start planning his Halloween party, and even though this all started because of Mark, he was glad for it because it could busy him and help him not think of Mark, which is exactly what he wanted he told himself, he didn’t want to think about Mark anymore. No, he _challenged_ himself not to think about mark.

           


	5. Chapter 5

                        Donghyuck was thinking about Mark Lee. He’d been sulking all morning thinking about him, he tried hard not to but he kept seeing big glistening eyes, small pouty lips, the cutest and smallest nose, he kept seeing smooth skin with a constellation of moles and he sighed. Why did he feel like things were so complicated? Why did he feel like he wants to do everything in his power to catch Mark’s attention tomorrow at school and avoid him completely at the same time? He knew he was afraid, he was afraid of his feelings towards Mark, he was afraid of rejection, but he already felt rejected. He keeps seeing Mark holding that girl and then taking her number, sure he was friendly with him and he kept saving him from falling on his ass but that was just because he was nice, it didn’t mean he felt the same way. He got out of bed to take a shower and get ready for his friends who were coming to help him plan the Halloween party and help decorate the house since the party was just a week away.

 

            The first two to arrive at Donghyuck’s house for the party planning were Renjun and Jaemin, apparently Jeno was running late because he was bringing some decorations he had in his house. Renjun stormed into the house as soon as Donghyuck opened the door for him and went straight to the kitchen to get a soda while saying, “So, Sicheng bailed on helping with the party planning.”

            Donghyuck and Jaemin followed him and Jaemin spoke first, “Thank god, doesn’t he have friends his own age?”

            Renjun drank from his soda and said, “That’s exactly why he bailed, he was going out with his friends and his boyfriend.” Both Jaemin and Donghyuck shared a glance then looked back at Renjun in concern, “Why are you both looking at me like that? I told you I was over my crush on him and I was serious, anyway I’m not that mad at him bailing because he said he’d still come to the party and bring his college friends along” Jaemin then added, “That’s good, we need older people that’s why I asked my brother to come and bring his friends too” “Yuta actually agreed to come?” Renjun asked, “yeah, at first he told me he was busy during halloween and when I asked him doing what, trick or treating he actually said yes, but then he changed his mind when I told him that Sicheng will be there, I didn’t know Sicheng had a boyfriend but Yuta doesn’t need to know that” Jaemin ended with a smile.

 

            They both realized that Donghyuck’s been quiet all this time, staring far away dazed, Renjun then asked, “So, did you see bighead after the incident?” Donghyuck then met Renjun’s eyes and simply said in a small voice, “Don’t call him that.”

            Renjun looked confused, “you literally called him tha-”

            “Anyway, about my party, it’s good that you guys invited people since I don’t know a lot of people at school, I also asked Lucas to invite all his friends and for Jungwoo to bring people”

            Jaemin then asked excitedly, “Do you guys know what you’re gonna dress up as?” Renjun opened his mouth to reply to only get cut off by Jaemin himself, “Me and Jeno are going as Eleven and Mike from Stranger Things” he said smiling so wide, “that’s disgustingly cute” Donghyuck said.

            “Thanks, what about you guys?” They both waited for a while to make sure he wasn’t gonna start speaking again, he rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand for them to talk. Renjun said, “I’m going as Legolas, I would offer my blonde wig for your Eleven costume but I need it”

            “It’s okay I already got one, and yours is too light for it to fit Eleven anyway”

            “True, true” Donghyuck was smiling hearing how excited his friends seemed to be over this party, he knew he started this entire thing because of Mark but he was glad it happened anyway, “I’m going as the best pop artist ever-”

            “OH MY GOD YOU’RE GOING AS JADEN SMITH???” Jeno suddenly screamed. They all turned around startled, “What? No, how did you get inside my house?”

            “I let myself in, anyway how come it’s not Jaden Smith?” Jaemin thankfully answered before Donghyuck started screaming, “babe, how is Jaden Smith a pop artist?”

            “Well, he’s an artist so…” They waited for him to finish his point but he just kept staring back at them so Donghyuck just said, “Anyway, I’m going as Michael Jackson.” then he heard Jeno mumble under his breathe, “how is Michael Jackson the best pop artist” And Donghyuck gaped at him then said, “he’s literally the king of pop!” Jaemin was just looking at Jeno and holding his hand comforting him when Renjun suggested they get back to party planning and decorating.

 

            They spent the entire day decorating the house and writing down all the things they needed to get, they were so tired but Renjun thought they should go out for dinner to lift the mood because everyone remembered they had school tomorrow and were each sitting upset in a corner in the living room. They left the house together and on their way to the restaurant Donghyuck made sure to walk with his eyes straight ahead, not daring to get a peak inside the bookstore, Renjun noticed how stiff Donghyuck looked and realized they were passing the bookstore so he took it upon himself to look inside quickly, after they passed he stopped Donghyuck which then made Jaemin and Jeno stop behind them and he said, “He looks really sad, Donghyuck.”

            Donghyuck decided to play dumb and asked, “Who?” Renjun slapped his arm, which made Donghyuck pout, but before he could say anything Renjun said, “you know who, dumbass!”

            Donghyuck looked at him then continued walking in the direction of the restaurant, his friends following along and he said, “Why should I care if he’s sad, it’s not like we’re friends or anything”

            Jaemin then jumped between Renjun and Donghyuck and said, “Maybe you should do something about that, I don’t know, ask him to the party again?”

            Donghyuck scoffed, “I would never do that, he already said no, quite rudely too if I remember correctly, anyway can we not talk about him right now.”

            Jaemin looked at Renjun but he only shook his head, so they all went to eat and they planned out everything they were going to prepare for the party, all the while Donghyuck kept thinking in his head about someone whose name sounded like the word park.

 

            Donghyuck noticed at school the next day that Mark was trying to catch his eye, so he decided to ignore him completely. He thought he was pretty good at ignoring Mark, every time the boy called his name in the hall he would pretend he was wearing headphones and start bobbing his head even though he was clearly not wearing any headphones. After a week of avoiding ever looking at Mark’s direction or talking to him, with no visits to the bookstore he was slowly feeling like himself again. Although he can’t help but sometimes miss a certain Canadian boy. At the end of the week during lunch he was going to sit with his friends only to find Mark Lee standing over his table conversing with his friends, so he turned around and left to eat in an empty classroom, but he texted Renjun immediately to know what the hell was going on

 

You: Renjun, what the hell is going on? Why is he at our table? What is he talking about?

Injun: Hello to you too, he’s just talking about random stuff but he suddenly asked about where you were and we just told him we don’t know, where are you by the way?

You: I’m eating in an empty classroom, also what do you mean random stuff? Please elaborate!!!!  


Injun: You’re truly hopeless, and god Donghyuck, why do you care? It’s not like you two are friends or anything (｡◝‿◜｡)

You: SHUT!!!!!!

 

            Donghyuck was panicking, why was Mark so persistent in talking to him, guess he was so good at avoiding Mark that Mark didn’t get the message, the bell rang and he left the empty classroom he was ~~hiding~~ , eating in. He went to his locker to get his books and found a note hanging inside his locker by tape, it was hanging in the middle of his locker. He pulled his head out of his locker and looked around the hall, it was packed with students hurrying to get to their classes, he reached his hand inside to grab the letter and read it.

 

 

**Dear Hyuck,**

**About the girl at the store, she was returning some books and she handed me the receipt, I got from your friends that you might’ve misunderstood the situation.**

**Also I noticed you avoiding me all week :(**

**PS: I miss talking to you, I miss your bookstore visits.**

**Sincerely,**

**Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.**

 

            Donghyuck stared at the note for what seemed like an eternity but it was probably just a couple of minutes, he was shocked, he cannot believe that Mark noticed that he was avoiding him, he truly felt like he was good at it. Then he felt stupid over the assumption he made at the bookstore, he’s been beating himself up about it for all that time and it was just a receipt. He then stared down at the end of the note, what did Mark mean he missed him? What was that about? Anyway, Donghyuck decided to look for this friendly neighborhood Spiderman after school to maybe finally set things straight.

            Donghyuck was walking out of his last class for the day with Renjun, he was feeling giddy and apparently Renjun noticed. “You seem like you’re in a good mood” Renjun said while tapping Donghyucks cheek.

            “I am.” Was all Donghyuck said back but Renjun didn’t bother questioning him, he was just happy that his friend was back to his all smiley self again. While they were on their way out of the school Donghyuck stopped walking, “Aren’t we going back to your house to finish up decorations?” Renjun asked him when he saw him waiting outside the school looking around for something or someone, “Yeah, I’ll meet you guys there, I just have a thing to do first.” Renjun smirked but left him there and headed towards Donghyuck’s house.

 

            Donghyuck saw Mark leaving his class with Lucas and when their eyes met Mark smiled and Donghyuck finally smiled back. “Hi.” Donghyuck said as Mark stood in front of him, “Hi.” Mark said back, then Lucas looked between them, smiled then slowly but not so subtly walked backwards and left them alone. It was starting to get quiet outside the school, not a lot of students around, “So, about that note you left,” Donghyuck started, “you were right, I was lowkey avoiding you-”

            “I wouldn’t say lowkey I-” Mark cut him off only for Donghyuck to cut him off by saying, “so you missed me huh?” And Mark was suddenly turning red and he kept looking at the floor, but then he looked up at Donghyuck, “so you were mad at me because you thought a girl gave me her number huh?” And Donghyuck is the one turning red now, they both started laughing at each other.

            After they stopped laughing, Mark suddenly kept taking steps closer to Donghyuck and Donghyuck kept turning backwards until his back hit the school’s wall, he gulped and looked straight into Mark’s eyes that were suddenly so dark Donghyuck could see his own flushed face in them, he could feel Mark’s breath on his face. Mark reached his hand to Donghyuck’s bangs and he put his hand through them, and Donghyuck let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding then finally asked, “What’re you doing?” his voice barely audible, Mark then pulled his hand and flicked it saying, “there was lint in your hair”

            “Oh, okay” And Mark pulled away but he was still abnormally close to Donghyuck. Donghyuck cleared his throat and asked, “About my party this Sunday, do you still have to work? Because I thought like now, maybe you could come, I don’t know” he finished still looking into Mark’s big eyes, Mark looked back at him and replied, “I don’t think I can cancel last minute, I mean I would like to really but I don’t think I could get out of it, sorry bro” he said the last part and he flinched and Donghyuck just gaped at him then closed his mouth pressing his lips together so hard they made a thin line, “don’t worry about it, it’s all good… _Bro_ ” he emphasized the bro then pulled away from behind the wall and mumbled a good bye and Mark just stood there stunned so he screamed, “I’ll see you around Hyuck.” but it sounded like a question and Donghyuck just lifted his hand up without looking back and made a thumbs up for Mark.

 

            Donghyuck spent his Friday night and the next day working with his friends over decorations and getting snacks for the party, it was good being busy he didn’t let his mind think about what happened with Mark. They all had their costumes ready a week beforehand so they didn’t need to worry about that.

            When he woke up on Sunday it was in the afternoon, he overslept. He groaned, he wasn’t feeling up to hosting a party, he was tired and moody. He got up anyway and made sure everything was in it’s place, it was still too early to the party but all his friends were coming over in an hour to get ready in his house. He called his mom and reassured her that everything was okay, she sensed that something was bothering him and he just told her he was stressed from school.

            He showered and he got his costume out to wear later. Jeno arrived in his costume even though the party doesn’t start until SEVEN HOURS. He came into the house in a shaggy bowled dark wig and a striped buttoned up shirt with brown khaki pants, a beat down white shoes and a walkie talkie. He was so excited he kept grinning and the first thing he said was, “Guess who I’m dressed up as?” and he seemed so excited but Donghyuck told him, “Jaemin already told us about your costumes.” and Jeno pouted saying quietly, “you could’ve still guessed.” and Donghyuck felt bad for him so he put on a curious face and asked, “Is it Mike from Stranger Things?” and Jeno smiled at the effort but he wasn’t as excited anymore. They hung out mostly talking about random things like what movies were showing right now or why Jaemin keep referring to himself as the fruit god whatever that means, “That Jisung kid he hangs out with is affecting him, he calls himself god Jisung and now Nana thinks he’s a fruit god” Donghyuck said and Jeno just laughed because he thought everything Jaemin did was cute and adorable and the list of synonyms goes on and on.

            Renjun and Jaemin arrived later with their outfits in their hands but their wigs were on already, which was hilarious to Donghyuck. They just walked in and tossed their blonde wigs as they sat down. Jaemin had his pink dress and blue jacket for his Eleven costume and he was still wondering whether he should put the blood on his nose or not, but he did bring a box of eggos.

            Renjun set his Legolas costume down along with his bow. “Donghyuck, how’d it go yesterday with the Canadian boy?” Renjun asked with a smirk on his face.

            “He bro-zoned me” Donghyuck replied while curling up on himself as he remembered the events of yesterday. Renjun went to sit next to him and side-hugged him and told him to focus on the party and that Mark probably panicked and said it or maybe he said it instinctively, but Donghyuck was tired making theories in his head of what ifs, he was tired of thinking about Mark and if he liked him back. They ate lunch together and joked around a lot, and it was getting closer to the time of the party so Donghyuck was checking on everything again and he noticed that they didn’t have enough soda’s so he told everyone to get ready already while he went out to get some.

            On his way there he saw Mark walk into the bookstore for his shift, he was suddenly sad again and he stomped his feet as he went to get the soda’s. He arrived back home and set the soda’s in the kitchen, everyone was already in their costumes and the party is starting soon, there were also some early comers. He went straight up to his room to get changed and he got into his Michael Jackson outfit, he picked his iconic BAD era’s costume and he looked at himself in the mirror. He liked putting on his makeup, the silvery eye shadow and the dark black eyeliner. He looked good, so he decided to go downstairs and join the party, he could hear the loud music all the way up in his room and he hoped the neighbors wouldn’t say anything to the police, or worse to his mother.

            He was surprised to see his house already packed with people, some were from school while others he just didn’t know at all. He felt a bit panicked at the thought of all these strangers in his house but he was too upset to think about that too much. He spotted his friends going in the kitchen so he pressed against all the strangers dancing in his living room to get there. “UGH” he said as soon as he got inside, they all looked at him and praised his outfit and he bowed down telling them he knew he looked amazing which they all rolled their eyes at him for. Renjun then came closer to him and said, “Maybe he’ll show up” He knew who Renjun was talking about and he just shook his head and said, “ No, I saw him go to the bookstore on my way to the supermarket” “oh, I’m sorry Donghyuck” He just nodded and put on a fake smile, just because he was sad doesn’t mean he’s gotta ruin this party for his friends too.

            They left the kitchen to go around looking for their friends in the chaos that was his living room, Donghyuck saw a guy, no not just any guy it was Lucas, dressed up as a cowboy with who he assumed was his boyfriend Jungwoo dressed up as Jason from Friday the 13th. He waved at them and they both waved back, then suddenly Lucas raised his Lasso, the rope cowboys’ use, and threw it in Donghyuck’s direction to catch him. He did catch him for some reason but the rope fell to the ground around Donghyuck, he just stared back at him and Lucas just smiled, Donghyuck waited a bit longer for some kind of explanation but Lucas just kept grinning and screamed over the music, “CAUGHT YOU!” Donghyuck got bored of staring at Lucas’s grin and just removed the rope from around his feet, he turned around wanting to go as far away from Lucas as possible until he got caught again with that damned rope but this time Lucas pulled the rope which resulted in it tightening around Donghyuck’s chest and he fell backwards on his couch’s side, his lower body was hanging from the edge of the couch while his torso along with his head was on the couch, more specifically was on someone’s thighs. He had his eyes shut from the impact but then slowly opened them up to see a Spiderman looking down at him, and that only made him sadder because it reminded him of Mark, so he looked at that Spiderman, who he was lying on, and said with a frown, “Fraud.” He got himself off the couch and removed the rope again to throw a glare towards Lucas who had his arms raised in surrender, but he still had a goofy smile on his face.

            That Spiderman from the couch was following Donghyuck and Donghyuck was getting annoyed so he turned around and screamed, “WHAT?” Spidey just shrugged and then he reached for Donghyuck’s shoulder and Donghyuck dodged him then he noticed his built and how he was slightly taller then him and then he was the one reaching for him, he pulled at his mask, and there he was, Mark Lee in a Spiderman costume in Donghyuck’s party. “Hi, Hyuck” And Donghyuck punched his shoulder, not too hard that it would bruise but not softly either,

“Ouch! What was that for?” Mark asked, he still had his mask on his head, his hair a mess.

“You said you had work! You said you couldn’t get out of it!” Donghyuck was mad and it was showing, even his ears were red.

Mark smirked and said, “I couldn’t at first, and then I told Ms. Choi about your crush on her and how I would fight her for you, I mean I really told her that this guy was special and I’m sure she’d be interested in him too but I just liked him more.

Hyuck was grinning at him, “I bet you lost the fight, Spidey”

“Yeah, she’s actually on her way here so get ready, she said she was super excited to give you a big smooch right on the-”

            Donghyuck then made a move for Mark’s mask to lower it so he can shut up which only resulted in Mark holding his hands, “I can’t believe you’re actually here”

“You did invite me”

“Which you kept saying no to!”

“So, am I crashing your party?” Mark asked leaning forward towards Donghyuck.  
“Yes, yes you are!” Donghyuck said while moving their entwined hands.

“Should I leave?” Mark whispered, and Donghyuck doesn’t know how he was able to hear him over the loud music.

“I never said that” Donghyuck said a bit too loudly, squeezing their hands and to his surprise Mark started chuckling and squeezed back.

“Okay, what do you want me to do then?” Mark asked with a smug look on his face.

And Donghyuck was about to ask him to dance with him, but he got interrupted when Jaemin came up to them with a panicked look and said, “Donghyuck, we have a problem!” And when Donghyuck looked back at Mark he had pulled down his mask over his face and he got close to Donghyuck’s ear and said, “I’ll wait for you, MJ” And Donghyuck felt a shiver run down his spine.

 

            “This better be worth it NANA” Donghyuck said when they were alone, and Jaemin said, “Yuta saw Sicheng with his boyfriend and he got really drunk, you know how he gets when he’s drunk” “did he start singing Whitney Houston yet?” Donghyuck asked panicked, “No, not yet but when I left him he was getting there” Donghyuck let himself be pulled by Jaemin towards where he left Yuta, only to see Yuta making out with some guy, “ he seems fine to me” Jaemin had his jaw on the floor, “who even is that?” “I think that’s Taeyong, he’s one of Lucas’s friends” They stopped staring and left the weird duo to their canoodling.

 

            Donghyuck was looking for Mark and he regretted the moment he saw him. He was with that same girl again, they were dancing really closely together, like _really_ close. And he had his hands at her waist and their faces were so close to each other even with the Spiderman mask on it still pissed Donghyuck off how close their faces were. He felt sick. What was Mark playing at? Was he toying with him? Did he think this was a game? Because Donghyuck didn’t wanna play.

            He goes upstairs because he can already feel his eyes getting wet, until he bumps into someone at the top of the stairs, “Hyuck, are you okay?” It’s Mark! Donghyuck turns around quickly to rub the tears out of his eyes and then he blurts out, “I thought you were downstairs” Mark looks downstairs to see the other Spiderman dancing with that girl and he pulls Donghyuck towards the nearest room, it being Donghyuck’s bedroom, telling him they needed to talk privately.

            Donghyuck was suddenly nervous, he didn’t know what was going on but he had to admit he was a bit excited. They don’t say anything at first, Mark is looking around the room while Donghyuck is studying him.

“Is this your room?” Mark asks, still looking around the room.

Donghyuck nods still staring at Mark, then he realizes that Mark isn’t looking at him so he answers out loud, “Yeah”.

Mark is standing near his desk, he picks up a notebook that has a watermelon on its cover and says, “This’s cute, I really like watermelons”.

Donghyuck gets behind him and asks, “what else do you like?”

Mark doesn’t dare turn around, he just holds the notebook tighter and says, “I really like snow,” Mark slowly turns around facing Donghyuck, “I- I like w-watermelons” Donghyuck looks at him for a second then turns around towards the door while saying, “you already said that” he sounded disappointed, “Hyuck, wait!” Donghyuck turned around too fast and tripped over a pile of his own clothes on the floor and fell on his back in the middle of his room. He stayed there until he saw a pair of legs above his head, “You’re really clumsy you know that?” Mark said with a smile on his face, slowly he lowered himself down until he was crouched, and now he was facing Donghyuck from above, “You noticed” Donghyuck says back unenthusiastically. Mark chuckles and pulls the lower part of his mask down and before Donghyuck can register what was happening he felt a pair of lips press against his, and they kiss until Donghyuck says, “off” and Mark is still kissing him but he stops to ask confused, “what?” “The mask, take it off” and relieved that that was what Donghyuck meant Mark takes off his mask, and then he’s being pulled down by Donghyuck again.

 

            They return to the party hands entwined, both grinning like complete idiots crazy in love, they see their friends huddled in the middle of the living room dancing together, and Donghyuck asks Mark, “Can I have this dance, Spidey?” that smile still plastered on his face, “It would be my pleasure, MJ” and they join their friends in the dance floor, Mike and Eleven from Stranger Things, Legolas from Lord Of The Ring, a cowboy with Jason from Friday The 13th, and Spidey with Michael Jackson.

 

**Author's Note:**

> lol you actually read through that mess? sorry for that uwu :)


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